Railway-switch-operating apparatus



April 1929- 1 J. 5. HOBSON E,7@8,l39

RAILWAY SWITCH OPERATING APPARATUS Filed May 5, 1928 INVENTOR. J? l'7 z Patented Apr; 9, 1929.

JOHN S. HOBSON, OF CHICAGQ, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOE TO THE UNION SVTITOH & SIGNAL S tilt il lh lli.

COMPANY, OF SWISS'VALE, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION OF PENNSYLVANIA.

RAILV/AY-SWIT CHI-OPERATING APPARATUS.

Application filed May 3,

-My invention relates to railway switch operating apparatus, and has for an object the provision of novel and improved means for permitting operation of a switch by two separate and distinct devices, such, for example, as an electric motor and a hand lever.

1 will describe one form of a 'iparatus embodying my invention, and will then point out the novel features thereof in claims.

The accompanying drawing is a plan view showing one form of apparatus embodying my invention.

Referring to the drawing, the reference character A designates a railway switch which is connected with'an operating mecha nism 1 of the motion plate type. The mechanism 1 is connected by a crank 2 and a link 3 with a rack at, the connections being such that longitudinal motion of the rack 4 will cause movement of the switch A to its normal and reverse positions.

Two gear wheels 5 and 6 are mounted in such manner that one or the other of these wheels may be moved into engagement with the rack 4. As here shown, a yoke '9 carries two aligned shafts 7 and 8, and the two gear wheels 5 and 6 are fixed to these two shafts respectively. The yoke 9 is movable in a direction transverse to the direction of motion of the rack 4, so that when this yoke is in one position gear wheel 6 meshes with the rack, whereas when the yoke is in another position gear wheel 5 meshes with the rack. The yoke may be shifted by any suitable means, this means, as here shown, being a hand lever 14, pivotally mounted in a plate 15 and operatively connected with the yoke by a link 13.

The shaft 7 is connected with an electric motor 12 through suitable reduction gearing, such, for example, as planetary gearing 11. This gearing is so constructed as to permit longitudinal motion of the shaft 7 without interfering with the gear operation. The shaft 8 is operat-ively connected with a hand lever 10.

The operation of the apparatus is as follows: When the yoke 9 is in the position in which it is shown in the drawing, gear wheel 6 is in mesh with rack l, so that the switch may be operated by the hand lever 10. When Serial No. 274,722.

3e operated by electric motor 12.

The apparatus is preferably so constructed that the gear wheels 5 and 6 can be moved into mesh with the rack 4 at only one end or both ends of the rack. This may be accomplished, for example, by beveling the sides of the rack teeth at one end of the rack or at both ends, but not at intermediate points in the rack. The purpose of this construction is to prevent shifting the mechanism from hand operation to motor operation orvice versa, except when the switch is in one extreme position or the other.

Although I have herein shown and described only one form of apparatus e1nbodying my invention, it is understood that various changes and modifications may be made therein within the scope'of the appended claims without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. Railway switch actuatingv apparatus comprising a rack operat-ivel y connected with the switch, two gear wheels, means for moving one or the other of said gear wheels into mesh with said rack, and separate and distinct devices for causing rotation of said two gear wheels respectively.

2. Railway switch actuating apparatus comprising a rack operatively connected with the switch, two gear wheels, means for moving one or the other of said gear wheels into mesh with said rack, an electric motor operatively connected with one of said gear wheels, and a hand lever operatively connected with the other gear wheel.

Railway switch actuating apparatus comprising a rack operatively connected with the switch, two gear wheels, means for shifting said gear wheels transversely with respect to said rack so that one gear or the other meshes with the rack, and separate and distinct devices for causing rotation of said two gear wheels respectively.

4. Railway switch actuating apparatus comprising a rack operatively connected with the switch, two gear wheels, means for shifting said gear wheels transversely with respect to said rack so that one gear or the other meshes with the rack, the teeth on said rack being he"; d the si. es at an and the,

and separate and distinct'devices for causing rotation of said two gear wheels respectively.

5. Railway switch actuating apparatus l comprising-a rack operatively connected with the switch, "a yoke carrying two aligned shafts, two gear wheels fixed to said two shafts respectively, two separate and distinct 10 devices for causing rotation'of said two shafts :rcspectwely, and means for shltting said yoke to two positions wherein one of said gear wheels or the other meshes with said rack In testimony whereof I afiix, my signature.-

JOHN I S; 'HOBSO'N. 

